Motorrad "Weiße Mars"

Die Neue Sammlung - The Design Museum

Description

The 1000/A20, the so-called "White Mars", launched by the Mars-Werke in Nuremberg in 1920, is one of the pioneering designs in the history of motorbikes. Its white box frame is typical, which together with the low saddle position gives the motorbike its curved, elegant shape. It acts as a structural core piece because it not only offers space for the tank and the tool holder but also serves as a luggage compartment. The two-cylinder, air-cooled boxer engine with 956 ccm and an output of 7.3 hp is also attached to it. The engine was developed by the Mars designer, Claus Franzenburger, together with the company's own engine master Fritz Hintermayr and manufactured by the Maybach company in Friedrichshafen. After the Mars-Werke, originally founded as an iron kiln factory, had to file for bankruptcy due to the poor economic situation in the mid-1920s, the production of the A20 was sold to the factory members Johann and Karl Müller. This period also saw the construction of about ten models with a 3-speed gearbox, one of which is in Die Neue Sammlung. With its unusual colour and special shape for those times, the "White Mars" had a decisive influence on motorbike construction in the 1920s. Only manufactured over a relatively short period between 1920 and 1931, it is considered a legendary and extremely rare vehicle today.